In The Next Version

Alan,

This site is an improvement over the previous ones I have seen. However, IBM is so large and is doing so many different things that it is hard to find things on the web site. I believe there is least three different small business sites that is totally different on the IBM web site. I had already mentioned some of the issues on Nathan's blog.

From the perspective of a small business owner who is using maybe Microsoft solutions and sees an IBM ad and goes to the web site to find out what solutions IBM may have to offer wouldn't it be better to merge these sites and provide a better cohesive message. The information is there but need to be aggregated together and focused ONLY on "small businesses." I have heard from many that the focus of the IBM marketing is on the IBM brand. Then have a more centralized small business portal that includes only small business offering from the main site would be more effective. If the branding is for IBM, then requiring them to start at www.lotus.com does not make sense. There is a whole new generation of users who have heard of IBM but not Lotus. As part of the site include a list of Business Partners who provides small business certified solution and services to this market. Having a small business go through a huge list of Business Partners solutions and services that does not apply to them is a waste of their time.

Some have told me to shut up and go with the flow or get out of the market. However, I believe my points are valid. I suspect the problem is ownership issues to different parts of the site, but I maybe wrong.

"I have heard from many that the focus of the IBM marketing is on the IBM brand"

I am not sure where you've heard this. IBM markets all of its software brands. Perhaps you mean advertising, which is a subset of marketing? Even from that perspective, brands -- and products -- are advertised.

I think the SMB microsite on ibm.com/lotus/smb is a great new effort. It doesn't address everything, including the consistency across ibm.com that you indicate, but it seems to me that it hits the mark for this important market segment.

I am happy to see that IBM has started to see the small businesses too, however I didn't find a link to Domino Designer in that page.

Especially SMBs have usually their own developers and Domino Designer is THE IDE tool for SMBs to make web sites and web applications for their customers. I'm also a bit worried about the pricing for Domino Designer, as IBM offers only a $780 version, and no Express version for SMBs, for example which could prohibit the use of enterprise functions (like Database connections, Collaboration functions, etc..) in the Express version. That's basically how Microsoft differs their Express versions from the Full versions too.

Microsoft offers Visual Studio C++ 2005 Express for free, and that is sufficient for most developers. You can create your own database engines, web servers, games, etc.. with it, and I don't need the things which the commercial version includes, as they are mostly related to Microsoft technologies and interfaces.

Richard, I would never tell a customer or partner to shut up. Your opinions are valid, and I appreciate you voicing them. We all have the same goal here, make things work for Lotus, our Partners, and our Customers.

@4, Alan

Don't get me wrong. This comment was not about you.

@2, Ed,

Yes, I agree that it is better than it use to be. You are correct, advertisement. However, I think having a single source would be more effective.

No worries, I did not take it personally. BTW, since from your web site I see you are an IBM Business Partner, you should join the Lotus Business Partner Forum. Link We have an call on Feb 15th for Partners on "2007 SMB Sales Focus", something you obviously sound interested in.

Alan,

Thanks for the invite. I will add it to my calendar.

Mika brings up something I was discussing with a colleague recently. I cannot for the life of me figure out why IBM charges for a Designer license. The one and only thing you can do with Designer is build applications to be deployed on Notes/Domino. Which means it has zero value except in connection with another IBM license, and it simply strengthens the value of that other license.

Why would you want to charge for that?

(Then again, a risk is that if Designer itself doesn't directly generate revenue, we'll never see revisions to the product, in which case, forget everything I just said!)

Don't forget the IBM drive-thru site for SMB.

{ Link }

@9

When that makes 4 separate different site for SMB that I know of on the IBM site very different.

I'm not sure if it's an improvement or not. I appreciate the effort, it just doesn't really help. I still find it cluttered and overwhelming.

Thanks for taking a look Charles. I've asked the team responsible to contact you to try and get more details. We'd like to know what you think should be removed, and what you think is missing. What do you need to learn from us in the SMB space. These sites are there to help you, so we want to listen.

Thanks for stepping in, Alan. I was contacted by someone, and responded with specific points of pain and suggestions for making it better. I have to say it's pretty amazing to see Lotus (IBM?) taking such an active interest in getting feedback. It's a welcome change. :)

Thanks Charles. From UI designs for our new products, to reviews of web sites, and everything in between, we really are trying to practice what preach... collaboration.

i think lotus notes still slightly behind as per compare to

microsoft.so what is the solution for that

Well before I propose a solution, I need a lot more information from you. First, you are comparing Lotus Notes to Microsoft. One is a product, one is a company. For the sake or argument, I'll assume you meant Lotus Notes vs. Microsoft Outlook. Second, you don't mention what versions you are comparing. Which version of Lotus Notes do you think is "behind" which version of Microsoft Outlook. Third, you don't provide any details about what you think is "behind". Is there a feature you think is missing? What about security? Offline support? Support for running on Windows, Linux, and Mac? Have you looked at the information about the upcoming release of Lotus Notes 8?

Hi there,

I might be a little off topic but I'm looking for somewhere that can teach me the basics of how to design webpage using Lotus Notes as my company is using it. My end result should be a page with side navigation keys. Would you know where I can get this info? Any information is very much appreciated. Thanks!

Yuzu, this is just what you're looking for:

Best Practices for Building Web Applications for Domino 8